Chapter 21: The Demon Does Charity

Inside their newly acquired building Arthur and Amon were busying themselves with different things.

Arthur took upon himself the job of cleaning the place since it was quite a mess as the workers they hired to renovate the building left just yesterday and unfortunately they did not leave things too pristine. He however did not complain and actually enjoyed himself while doing so.

Amon on the other hand sat at the desk which was filled with different notes and documents. He was currently writing on a piece of paper and slowly filled it with calculations, formulas, magical arrays and even runes. Simply put, there were a lot of things which would give a normal person a headache.

"98.7? Taking into account Weise's practicality law wouldn't that mean I need exactly a hundred? Where in the world will I find this many for what I need? This…"

His laments about some unknown issue were however put on hold when Renfri suddenly barged through the door. She seemed quite excited actually and held a certain document high in the air.

"I finally have it! I swear to the Goddess that if you make me deal with bureaucrats one more time I will not care about the consequences not to mention that the bribes costed a small fortune but at least they've dealt with it quickly because of it"

She threw the document onto the desk and Amon only glanced at the bottom where the words 'application approved' were written in red text before looking back at her.

"Good work. Go tell Arthur that he can finally put up the sign"

"On it"

***

Arthur rushed through the corridor with a sign in one hand and a hammer in the other. He seemed really happy that he could finally do it. They had this ready for a week now and in his mind it was a sin to let something so amazing simply collect dust while abandoned on a shelf.

He finally left the building and on the door he nailed the sign which had a text and a symbol that depicted a pair of angelic wings surrounded by a golden halo whereas the text in a rather large font said this:

"The Guardian Angel Foundation. Charity for the poor and sickly"

Arthur felt a sense of pride when he looked at his work and also admired Amon's genius since by establishing a charity not only would they help this place become less gloomy but also keep them safe from authorities. After all, who would suspect that the people for whom a certain archmage turned the city upside down would go on and establish a charity?

It was simply unthinkable which made it perfect and even if they would be discovered by pleading they would surely let them off because of this. That's at the very least what Amon told him and he obviously wouldn't just lie to him. Come on. He wouldn't. Seriously.

Oh and speaking of which he just arrived at the door and similarly admired the sign but for a couple of different reasons.

'Great, this will buy us some time and in the future we can use it to lounder some money. It's a shame that the market for drugs is pretty satiated here but I will think of something. Maybe human trafficking with a little bit of organ harvesting on the side? Nah too troublesome. Oh I know! How about creating some secret order and making money out of paid assassinations? I would call it the dark brotherho- No no I feel that the name is already taken by someone…'

Arthur looked at Amon who was smiling from ear to ear and couldn't help but think of just how much of a good person he is. He seemed just as happy as him to establish a charity and help the people in need. How wonderfully Arthur felt at this exact moment.

"Okay enough daydreaming we have some work to do don't we Arthur?"

"Yes!"

***

Another day passed in the Coln district.

The streets there could barely be told apart as every single one of them was equally dark, gloomy and depressing. On one of such streets some light shone however as the poor gathered in order to receive a warm meal and some clothing which would help them survive the cold nights in the late weeks of the fall and the upcoming winter.

"I pray that the Goddess of Light will bless you"

Arthur was often thanked this way as he gave away food or clothes which made him feel bittersweet but realising that they meant well he still smiled warmly to every single person.

"C-Can I get a bowl?"

A tramp who seemed to have a weird condition as his face was filled with disgusting pimples approached him and awkwardly asked for a meal. Arthur, unbothered by his appearance nodded and turned to pour him some soup.

"Heh"

The tramp chuckled softly and reached with his hand for where Arthur's black pocket watch was as soon as he turned his back to him. Unfortunately for him he should have settled for simple soup as he was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled away in a flash.

He wanted to say some made up excuse to the person that grabbed him but as soon as he looked at his red coloured eyes his thoughts seemed to drift away by the second as they were quickly being replaced by the absolute desire to obey the person in front of him and do whatever it would take to please him.

"Huh? Where did he go? He was here just a second ago…"

Arthur turned with a bowl filled with soup in his hand and was confused as to where the tramp went. He looked left and right but couldn't find him anywhere so he simply shrugged and continued his work as if nothing happened.